Over The Sun

It's uplifting and relaxing—no wonder many of us crave the sun. Experts now explain how to get a little light without a lot of damage.

It's called a Burqini. Unveiled last year, it's a mashup of a burka—the modesty garment worn by devout Muslim women—and a bikini, the immodesty garment favored by devout sun-worshippers. The Burqini is a two-piece swimsuit: A long-sleeved, hooded turtleneck tunic and bootleg pants fashioned from UV-blocking polyester. Aside from its two pieces, a bikini is none of those things.

To the serious sunbather, any sun-protective measure—a big ol' Bo Peep bonnet, a beach umbrella, an SPF higher than one's shoe size—seems tantamount to wearing a Burqini. Indeed, a nationwide survey conducted this year found that nearly 30 percent of adults say they don't use sunscreen at all, despite the fact that 1.3 million new skin cancers are diagnosed each year in the United States, 90 percent of which are caused by sun exposure. "As dermatologists, we take a stand that you have to stay out of the sun between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., wear sunscreen, don't tan—and the message isn't working," says Vincent DeLeo, chairman of dermatology at St. Luke's-Roosevelt and Beth Israel Medical Centers in New York City. "We're fighting a lost battle. We have to be more realistic with the message, because you can't tell people to have a healthy lifestyle and, at the same time, tell them they can't go outside."

So instead of ignoring the usual thou-shalt-nots because it all just seems like way too much (and not nearly enough fun!), a few doctors are offering an incremental plan for a healthy attitude about the sun and your skin. Think of it as inching your way into the crisp, cool ocean: Each step might be daunting at first, but you'll get used to it in no time.

#1 STAY AWAY FROM TANNING SALONS
They're called "tanning coffins" for good reason: Those lambent, blue-light capsules are absolutely linked to higher rates of skin cancer—despite tanning salons' claims of being safe. "We dermatologists are seeing people in their 20s who already have basal-cell cancer from tanning parlors," says David Leffell, professor of dermatology and surgery at Yale School of Medicine. One study of Scandinavian women showed that those who used tanning beds more than once a month were 55 percent more likely to develop melanoma—and that's just once a month, whereas some states allow visits as often as once a day. Don't fool yourself into thinking you'll do it "just this once": Research suggests that tanning can be addictive, since it releases mood-enhancing endorphins. (That may partly explain why tanning is a $5 billion-a-year industry.) Nor should you stop in just for special occasions. "If you want to be tan at your wedding, a tanning bed is the worst thing you can do," says Leslie Baumann, director of the University of Miami Division of Cosmetic Dermatology. "You trade looking good for three days for looking terrible at age 40." Also, in her book The Skin Type Solution (Bantam Dell), Baumann dispels the myth that tanning clears up blemishes. "Acne actually gets worse in summer months and is worsened by UV exposure," she says.